Aimed at ten readers, this first-rate book explores the people and history that converged to produce this song in the decades before the American Revolution. Dutch immigrants, New England Puritans, English prostitutes, British soldiers, and American revolutionaries all play a part in this well-constructed narrative.
Lawrence provides an interesting review of the song and its history in a book that teachers in particular will find useful.
For those interested in learning more about the war that gave birth to the song, this is a great little book. It is thick with detail but still well paced and highly readable. It pays only passing attention to the European war, focusing instead almost exclusively on the contest in North America between the French, British, and Indians.